Challenges to Kentucky public library books soared by 1,061% last year, rising from 26 incidents in 2023 to 302 incidents in 2024, according to a recently released state report.

That eye-popping number is buried in small type at the bottom of page six of the annual Statistical Report of Kentucky Public Libraries, published in April by the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — By early spring, Paramount Global was in crisis. President Donald Trump wouldn't budge from his demand for an eye-popping sum of money and an apology from the company to settle his lawsuit over a CBS News "60 Minutes" interview with Kamala Harris. Journalists at the storied broadcaster were in revolt against the parent company.

...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Pacific Palisades neighborhoods were closed to the public for months after a January firestorm devastated the community, but since its recent reopening, there have been sightings of a new, disturbing visitor in the neighborhood: disaster tourists. Busloads of them.

"My office and others have received numerous reports about ...Read more

Late one Friday night, a truck carrying sound equipment for legendary cumbia band Los Angeles Azules was pulled over along the Mexico-Puebla highway. Police at the checkpoint were in fact bandits, and upon seeing the pricey cargo they drew their guns and drove off with the loot.

The driver and another passenger were left stranded by the side of...Read more

The largest wildfire in California this year has grown to 70,800 acres in San Luis Obispo County and poses an immediate threat to life, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The Madre fire sparked around 1 p.m. on Wednesday in a rural area of the county. The fire has burned one structure and is 10% contained, ...Read more

(Bloomberg) — The U.S. ambassador to Canada gave an optimistic assessment of trade talks between the countries, playing up the odds that a fair deal will emerge soon from negotiations between Donald Trump and Mark Carney.

“We’ve got two guys that are negotiating for each of our countries,” Pete Hoekstra told an audience during an ...Read more

Boston has declared its independence from disgraced City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, whose last day of work after resigning following her conviction on federal corruption charges was July 4.

Fernandes Anderson, 46, pleaded guilty on May 5 to two of six public corruption charges that were lodged against her in a federal indictment last ...Read more

Young Noble, a former member of the Outlawz rap group founded in the 1990s by Tupac Shakur, has died by apparent suicide at the age of 47, according to reports.

Noble, who’s real name was Rufus Lee Cooper III, was found dead Friday morning in Atlanta from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, sources told TMZ.

His death was ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Lawrence Herrera started carrying a folded-up copy of his birth certificate in his wallet last week. He also saved a picture of his passport on his phone's camera roll.

For the 67-year-old Atwater Village resident who was born and raised here, the precaution felt silly. But he's not taking any chances.

"I started hearing, 'He's...Read more

BALTIMORE — Households in Maryland struggling with rising utility costs will receive increased energy assistance benefits this year, Maryland Governor Wes Moore announced Thursday.

The expanded aid comes from increased appropriations for the Strategic Energy Investment Fund, which is a state reserve made up of fines paid by utility companies ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Waiting in a lineup of floats ready to embark on Eagan’s annual July Fourth parade, DFL Rep. John Huot flinched when he heard a loud pop.

It was a balloon tied to a van behind him, bursting from the heat. But Huot and his family felt a little on edge on the bright, sweltering morning of Independence Day, just a few weeks after...Read more

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has announced that there was a measles exposure this week at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita.

On Friday, the agency gave details of the exposure. It occurred from 10 p.m. Tuesday until 4:45 p.m. Thursday on the fifth floor of the pediatric unit in Building 4. Wesley is located at 550 N. Hillside....Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — A tropical depression formed in the Atlantic off the coast of Florida on Friday headed for the Carolinas and expected to become a tropical storm, according to the National Hurricane Center.

In the NHC’s initial 5 p.m. advisory for Tropical Depression Three, its center was located about 100 miles east-northeast of ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Mayor Cherelle L. Parker is putting it all on the line.

In a fiery news conference on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Parker made clear on Thursday that she wasn't ready to capitulate in negotiations to end the ongoing city workers strike and delivered a broadside at union president Greg Boulware, who three days ...Read more

The four women sat in camping chairs on 19th Street sipping mix-made mojitos. One was knitting, another talked on her cellphone. Amalia Alejo sang in Spanish and Ana Flores held onto her small white dog.

They looked at home because they were. They sat right outside Flores’ house in Pilsen, laughing as the sun beat down on the quiet Tuesday ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An arrest warrant has been issued for a Kansas City woman months after she allegedly made terrorist threats to a children’s hospital, according to court records.

La’toya Summerville is charged in Jackson County Circuit Court with three counts of making terrorist threats after she allegedly told hospital staff she would ...Read more